16 Japan-born crested ibises arrive in China, 1st transfer in 8 years

Sixteen crested ibises born in Japan to birds sent from China arrived in Beijing on Thursday in the first such transfer in eight years under a bilateral agreement to help conserve the internationally protected bird.Japan's native ibises became extinct in 2003, and it has been using birds donated by China since 1999 for an artificial breeding program, agreeing to return half of the chicks born to China.The seven males and nine females raised on Niigata's Sado Island are set to be transferred to Beijing Zoo. The last transfer occurred in 2016, with none taking place in recent years due to the…READ FULL ARTICLE